Search form

Search form

A 21-month-old boy with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy traveled to China to undergo an umbilical-cord-blood stem cell transplant. Similar transplant procedures are offered in the U.S. but not for patients with cerebral palsy. The treatment's results usually manifest three to six months after the surgery for neurological conditions, Chinese doctors said.

Related Summaries

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of Duke University's Pediatric Bone Marrow and Transplant program, has been authorized by the FDA to conduct a randomized clinical study to test the efficacy of cord blood stem cells in treating pediatric patients with spastic cerebral palsy. The study could entice more parents to have their child's cord blood stored in private cord blood banks, Kurtzberg said.

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of Duke University's Pediatric Bone Marrow and Transplant program, has been authorized by the FDA to conduct a randomized clinical study to test the efficacy of cord blood stem cells in treating pediatric patients with spastic cerebral palsy. The study could entice more parents to have their child's cord blood stored in private cord blood banks, Kurtzberg said.

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of Duke University's Pediatric Bone Marrow and Transplant program, has been authorized by the FDA to conduct a randomized clinical study to test the efficacy of cord blood stem cells in treating pediatric patients with spastic cerebral palsy. The study could entice more parents to have their child's cord blood stored in private cord blood banks, Kurtzberg said.

A recent winter storm has forced the BloodCenter of Wisconsin to cancel several blood drives, leaving the center with a shortage of 625 units, a coordinator for the center said. The blood center serves 55 hospitals in the state.

A U.S. study found that cord blood cells are a suitable alternative to bone marrow or peripheral blood progenitor cells for acute leukemia patients who need a stem cell transplant. The research showed that cord blood transplants have longer engraftment time and greater mortality but less later morbidity compared with other stem cell sources.